


Bottle to Trottle

by GertieAndMaud



Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Alcoholism, MJN Air Is A Family, Multi, Multi character PoV, OJS air, post zurich
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2015-02-22
Packaged: 2018-03-13 07:22:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3372761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GertieAndMaud/pseuds/GertieAndMaud
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Douglas returns to old ways, Herc has a dilemma. He has to revisit events of the past to help Douglas now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Herc's Dilemma

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first posting and first attempt at a Cabin Pressure Fic. 
> 
> The first few chapters are pretty much just Herc, but it will be a Martin/Douglas Fic eventually.

Hercules was torn, he couldn't decide what to do for the best. He knew what was legal and right. Wether that was for the absolute best thing to do though was another question. There was no way Douglas was just recovering from a migraine, Herc had seen it many time before her was still nursing a hangover. If it had been a one off it would have been a stupid mistake last week it had been hay fever, a few days before that it must have been the virus that Lottie had picked up from school, once Herc might have given him the benefit of the doubt. This was no one off it was happening too often. 

He and Douglas had been close once upon a time, as had their wives at the time. Then after Air England they hadn't seen each other for years until the day Herc was on relief and needed to fly to Newcastle. As friendly as their greeting had been Douglas had done very little, well nothing to hide his dislike for his fellow former AE captain, even in front of Carolyn. But now they were sitting next to each other in the flight deck every day some of that easy sparing was coming back. 

But Carolyn was now his wife, the first woman he'd actually fallen in love with. She had even confirmed she indeed loved love him, despite her frosty exterior. He knew how much she actually cared deeply. She was, as she would always very proudly declare, the CEO of OJS Air, her future depended on the company. It was her name on the operators licence, her reputation and her money. His loyalty should be to her, surely. 

And then there was Arthur. The old saying was never truer in Arthur's case, any git can father a child, it takes some one special to be a dad.  
Arthur had just been through a tremendous loss, Herc could only compare it to grief, Martin had been in many ways Arthur's best friend, most certainly his hero. He was only a few years older than Arthur but had achieved captainship, drove a van and had shared the ambition of being an aeroplane. For the first time in his life he had some one who was actually everything a dad would be to him. He was the first to tell Arthur he was being stupid, the first to tease him mercilessly, however any threat to him, or heaven help anyone who said anything bad about the boy within ear shot of Douglas, he was always the first to defend him. It had been Douglas that had mentored and comforted Arthur through the grief. Arthur had told Herc he was the best step dad he'd ever had even so he knew in Arthur's affections he came second to Douglas. 

So how could reporting Douglas be the right thing? And anyway it wouldn't exactly cover Hercules himself in glory. He'd not lied to Carolyn just omitted to tell her the complete truth, her could have told her long ago the real reason for Douglas's distaste, and why he was no longer at the more prestigious airline. Douglas knew that he'd chosen his career over their friendship and reporting him was sure to bring up his own part in Douglas's fall from grace, something he wasn't keen on him or for that matter Carolyn knowing. Was it worth the risk of destabilising his fifth and best marriage, losing a friendship that he had to admit to himself he had missed all these years, losing Arthur the person who genuinely cared for him and provided a dad for him? 

Reporting his observations was the legal right thing to do, but for the best, it wasn't best for him, and how would it help Douglas, and how was it best for Carolyn and Arthur? It wouldn't help his friend and it wasn't best for Carolyn and Arthur, Herc couldn't hurt them he knew that.


	2. The key is in the past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Herc visits Douglas's first wife, could the reason for drinking now be the same as then.

He was omitting to tell Carolyn the complete truth again, he'd just muttered something about unexpected business to tie up in Scotland. Until he got his type rating certificate he was not much more than a glorified passenger anyway. Carolyn had eyed him, yet just responded with well fine Douglas can do it as a solo." He'd headed towards the North bound motorway even joined it, even though he knew Carolyn couldn't see, leaving at the first junction and joining the south bound motorway and heading towards Kent. 

"Uncle Herc!" an attractive blonde 23 year old exclaimed, as she flung open the door, "see I remembered you" Imogen Richardson had been just 8 when they'd last seen each other after the friendship between him and her parents had disintegrated. She'd certainly grown in to a well mannered well presented young lady that Douglas would be proud of. Herc wondered how much father and daughter had to do with each other, his marriage to his wife Eleanor had lasted a little longer than the Richardson's had he knew Lucille had been unwilling to allow Douglas access while he was drinking when Imogen had been younger. 

"I think your mother was expecting me Imogen?" She just nodded and showed him in to an immaculately presented living room. Where her mother sat on an expensive looking leather sofa. Lucille had become more glamorous with age, and retained her looks. Lucille and Herc's first wife Eleanor had remained close and she knew that it had been Herc, that had pushed over the first domino in a chain of events that lead to the failure of hers and Douglas's marriage. He knew she could blame him for making her a single parent with an alcoholic ex husband who could barely look after himself let alone be in any be deemed fit to look after a child as young as Imogen was. 

However, time was a great healer, although Douglas and her relationship wasn't the most amicable, her ex husband had for their daughter, got his act together, tread the very worn and notoriously difficult path to sobriety. He had tried to make up for his absence in Imogen's early life, and had undoubtably been the best dad he could be to his younger daughter by his second wife, Imogen's half sister Lottie. Without Herc's interference, without Douglas losing the security of Air England, without losing everything he had he would never have hit rock bottom and never had changed. No it might have been the final nail in her marriages coffin but she had no reason to have a grudge with Herc. They engaged in small talk, it had been a long 15 years they relaxed in to the comfortable chit chat until Herc sighed, Lucille could tell she was about to find out the reason he had decided to renew the acquaintance after the decade and half. 

"I think Douglas is drinking again" he said, then looked at the floor very aware his words were unexpected and had conquences for the people he and Lucille loved the most yet here he was discussing Douglas with Douglas's ex wife while Carolyn the person he should be sharing his concerns with was on a flight piloted by Douglas. A flash of a combination concern for and anger and bitterness flashed across Lucille's face, she straighted up regaining her composure hoping Herc hadn't noticed. "In the last two weeks he's had Lottie's cold, hay fever and a migraine, he's been snappy at Arthur, and made unnoticeable errors, I noticed them, Martin would have done if he was still with us but you know Douglas he's good at covering his tracks with ATC and the CAA" Lucille nodded, Douglas could, would and did get away with so much for so very very long. 

"What does that have to do with me? You've driven 200 miles to tell me my ex husband has fallen of the wagon" she let out a slightly bitter laugh "although credit where it's due, no one gave him 15 months, let alone 15 years" 

"I have to chose again Lucille" 

"And you want me to ease your conscious" 

"Well did I do the right thing? Reporting him. Did it do you and Imogen any good, and as you say he's been dry 15 years, he's a good dad, you must admit that, he has heart of gold for all his snark and sarcasm, and how would Imogen deal with him being the man he was when she was younger, and Lottie comes to Fitton every weekend, and Arthur's real father, well I can't put in to words the way he treated, and abused Carolyn and Arthur, Douglas has included him anything he's done with the girls, Arthur wouldn't have coped since Martin left without Douglas." Herc collapsed in to the sofa with a sigh feeling defeated "the conquences are prehaps bigger this time" 

"What now they affect you" Lucille didn't even try to bite back the same bitter laugh. 

"And Imogen, and you and Lottie and Molly, but on my wife Carolyn and Arthur who love very much and yes on me, all of us but Imogen has missed out on so much, Arthur doesn't deserve the treatment he's had Douglas is amazing for him and would you really wish what Imogen went through on Lottie?" 

Lucille realised no matter how bitter she felt and how hurt she had been by Douglas and indeed Herc, her own daughter, and two people Imogen felt a great deal of affection for mattered far more than her, as a parent you had to do best for your child, no matter how hurt you were. "No I wouldn't, you Molly and I could do our very best to make sure Imogen Lottie and Arthur were loved and looked after, but we'd never replace Douglas" she said."why are you here Herc" 

"You've already decided what to do haven't you? And this time Hercules you may well have it right" Lucille gave him an encouraging smile. "To help him you need to know he is drinking." 

"That's why I'm here, he was drinking before things got in your marriage, I remembered the way you used to look at each other, Eleanor said you would explain" 

Lucille sighed, she knew the past held the key it wasn't a time she wanted to relive she'd never spoken to anyone about it. And here she was about to talk to the last person she thought she ever would. The last person that Douglas would want her talking to about it but he was the only person that was willing to help him, and there were three people that needed him in their lives. She hadn't seen Douglas for years, and there was a lot that he'd kept from her. Drinking had been his mask. She didn't really know what could have caused this slip, Imogen and Lottie had always been the reason he stayed sober, about the only thing that would set him drinking again would be a loss that made a bigger than the impact that made the posiablity of not having his girls and Arthur in his life, seem a small sacrifice. He hadn't even started drinking when him and Molly had ended their short lived marriage. They were better off as friends that's what Molly had said, and now Herc had said him and Helena were divorced yet it seemed he hadn't started drinking then. From what Herc had said Douglas was in a bad way. From what she could gather, he was back in the captains seat and she knew how much he would love being Herc's superior. The two things that had changed as far as she could see were Helena , and Martin. Could it be a delayed reaction to divorce? Douglas had never cheated on her or Molly, she could see how Helana's revelation would have hit him harder than he would have shown anyone. But then neither Imogen or Lottie had got on with their dads third wife, in fact it was one of the sources of conflict between his first two wives and him, Helena's rejection of them, since their break up Douglas had found comfort in them and from what Herc said Arthur. Then there was Martins move to Swiss Air. Imogen had talked about Martin, Douglas's captain last she'd heard, he must have known Douglas well. He always seemed to be around when Imogen visited. It was part of what Douglas had even kept from her, his relationship history. If that was the case then the key to why Douglas was drinking lay in the past, she didn't know much and how much of what she knew should she tell Herc. 

"Did you ever fly with Rory Fenshaw?" 

"No" Herc remembered the snarky put downs, that now he thought about it was frightfully reminiscent of the Douglas Richardson that Carolyn talked about, "Douglas was his favorite, none of the rest of us got a look in and Douglas loved him, well admired him well" he suddenly seemed to understand, but was unsure he'd jumped to the right conclusion 

"No you were right Douglas loved him" Lucille said "I don't know much, it's not something you talk to your wife about"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure about this chapter. 
> 
> I'm working on a chapter from Douglas's PoV 
> 
> Comments welcome


	3. Douglas

Douglas winced as his alarm clock sounded, he hadn't even made it to bed last night. It was only two weeks till Birling day, and it couldn't come quick enough. The two empty bottles of Talisker that lay on the floor were the last of the last 6 years worth. He'd tried, he'd tried to focus on Imogen and Lottie, they'd been what had kept temptation at bay for so long. 

He'd missed so much of Imogen's life, much of when him and Lucille he hadn't been a very good husband and useless father, the hours he wasn't flying he was in some exclusive club or just the local pub. He didn't really blame Lucille when access visits had been limited and supervised. He thought he'd hit rock bottom, back then the day he was facing a disciplinary from Air England and staggered out of the bar too access visit stinking of alcohol and the play worker on duty had refused to allow him to see his beautiful daughter. It hadn't been easy, he after all had a reputation as your hard drinking, extrovert Sky God and in order to retain that image temptation was pretty much ever present. He could never let Imogen down again and when Lottie was born it just strengthened his resolve. Holding the blue eyed dark haired girl in his arms hours after she was born he'd felt a rush of love the alcohol had dulled when his first daughter. And now there was Arthur, he hadn't realised how much he'd cared for the boy, but the number of times he and Martin had effectively acted as babysitter and then there had been they had really bonded when they'd been stuck in Killkenny airport, his heart had jumped when Arthur had actually called him Dad, all be it in the name of a ruse, in bid to get GERT-I back, but the realisation he'd be a better dad than Arthur's biological father made him resolve to show the boy what it was like to have a real dad. They'd had a few good weekends with Lottie, Arthur had even started smiling a little again, and Douglas had never felt such joy to see the pair of them genuinely excited about the smallest things. Yet he knew he'd let the three of them down. 

Then there was Herc, how long was he going to continue believing that Douglas was in some way I'll, from the way Herc had eyed yesterday, Douglas knew he already had his suspicions. And it had been bad enough at Air England, when Herc had told him that unless he stopped drinking he would have to go to their superiors, Herc had denied all knowledge of how his the chief pilot had just decided to call an flight bag inspection on a day that there was 3 bottles of stolen duty whiskey in Douglas's, but Douglas suspected his best friend turned slimed little toad had something to do with it. And now yes on the flight deck he was Herc's senior but at OJS there wasn't any one more senior than Carolyn, Herc's wife. Yes Carolyn had been very loyal but he was putting not only himself and Herc at risk but Carolyn, Arthur, the whole business at risk, he really couldn't expect any kind of loyalty from any one. Would Herc even allow him to make it to Birling day, maybe it would be better if he didn't. 

Why when he had rebuilt so much of his career, found people that accepted and loved him, rebuild his relationship with his eldest daughter, had he returned to his old unreliable friend? He knew why, he closed his eyes trying to focus on Imogen Lottie and Arthur, and shut out the memory, but the familiar face loomed in his vision.


End file.
